Components of aerospace, automotive, and other service applications have been subjected to the ever increasing demand for improvement in one or more mechanical properties while at the same time maintaining or reducing weight of the component. To this end, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,889,177 and 4,572,270 describe a magnesium or aluminum alloy castings having a fibrous insert of high strength ceramic fibers therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,981,083 describes a method of making a composite casting wherein a reinforcement insert, such as a fiber reinforced metal matrix insert or intermetallic reinforcing insert, is captured in a cast component and includes cladding on the reinforcement insert to react with the molten metallic material to provide a ductile, void-free metallurgical bond between the reinforcement insert and the cast matrix. For reactive molten titanium base alloy, the cladding comprises a titanium beta phase stabilizer, such as Nb or Ta cladding, that reacts with the molten titanium base alloy to form a relatively ductile beta phase stabilized region between the reinforcement insert the solidified titanium base alloy matrix.